“Liberal arts style” usually just means that they require a lot of core courses. This is something you’ll appreciate more and more as you get older, because it’s just nice to know at least a little bit about a lot of things, and college is the last chance you get until retirement to do something in depth that isn’t for your career.

Honestly, Boulder is the best known of these schools, and if you do well there, it will probably open up more doors for you than the other two. It will also be easier to run a research job on campus there, since there is more research going on there.

Whether class size helps you is really dependent on your personality. If you learn well just reading the book and listening in class, then you’ll do fine in a big class. If you need to ask a lot of questions, smaller classes might be better. Remember, though, that big universities usually have discussion sections with a graduate student for classes that get too big, so you will still have small sessions for the big classes.

That’s a lot of questions wrapped up in one. However, the only real answer to the “public vs. private” debate is “whatever’s best for you personally.” Given your interests, you may be better off at a school with a research focus that will have better lab resources and let you concentrate on the areas you want to focus on than a liberal arts college, which will want you to be more “well-rounded.”

Many large universities do have programs designed to help good students find their niche, and you should look into whether Boulder is one of them. You should also pay attention to whether the science facilities at Denver and Regis are adequate, or if you’d be relying more on that individual attention to help you understand the concepts than hands-on experience.

I know a liberal arts degree doesn’t mean you’ll get a good job. Don’t know about liberal arts teaching methods…???

The first 2 years all you’re doing is getting basics out of the way. Maybe 1 elective a semester, but mostly it’s basics. You can take the basics anywhere – so I’d go for someplace more affordable. Keep a good grade average, and after your sophomore year transfer to a school that has a good chem or biochem lab.

I would think that UofC would have more resources, and be more fun. But you will have to search out and find the resources. At a smaller school they will tout their resources louder, hoping students use them so they can get more in the future. The smaller universities are a little more aimed at scholastics, achievement, and not so much on being a teen away from home, socialization, etc.

A liberal arts education can really benefit some people. I went to a small liberal arts college and for me it was a really wonderful experience. Small classes that encouraged discussions were incredibly beneficial in developing a sense of comfort in verbally articulating and arguing my ideas with others. Another nice thing about smaller, liberal arts schools is that you usually end up getting a lot more attention from faculty. I ended up participating with faculty on their research and I would have been less likely to have done that at a bigger school, I think. (But that’s me so who knows about anyone else…) Of course, you can get that at larger universities; however, you often have to try harder.

Whether you go to CU Boulder or one of the smaller, private schools, I’m sure you’ll be able to get the research and mentoring opportunities you’ll want, you just may have to work harder to be noticed at CU since it’s bigger. You should think about what kind of experience will most benefit you.

Good luck 🙂

I’m a sophomore at a small liberal arts university in Ohio. I too was thinking about going to a public university but I am soooooooo glad that I didn’t. I have gotten the best education so far at my school. My professors are amazing and truly care about their students. One professor stayed with a few of my classmates and I in our zoology lab until 10:00 at night to help us understand material, they all offer supplementary study sessions, and pretty much have open office hours 24/7 (i.e. whenever they aren’t teaching you can find them in their office). Plus, most of them hand out their home phone numbers in case of a study crisis. My biggest class has been around 40 students, smallest, 12 students. Either way it is better than having 600 students in a class and not knowing your professor at all. Another advantage of a liberal arts education is that creativity and different forms of “out of the box” thinking are fostered and encouraged. I’ve had plenty of professors who encourage us to form our own opinions on the material and share them with the class even if they contradict with what the professor thinks. If you go to a small liberal arts school, there are usually strong alumni bases, which equals lots of networking opportunities with “friends” in high places (i.e. successful alumni) that can help you land jobs, internships, grad school spots, etc. There are often lots of research positions at smaller schools as well. Don’t worry so much about the money until you get your financial aid award. There is no way I could afford to go to my liberal arts university without my scholarship, but I’ve been able to have the education of my dreams because of it. About 90% of students at my school receive some sort of financial aid. Good luck!

If you are already a ‘liberal’ person Boulder will suit you very nicely. I would highly reccomend UofC. I live in Indiana and my girls get to go to school here free. But when they are of age, they will go study at Boulder.

As far as medical school, I guess it all depends on where you plan to go. If you already have ideas about that, talk with them, they will tell you what they are looking for.

I went to liberal arts school, Franklin College in Indiana. I really couldn’t stand it. Too clickish for me.

Have fun and if I ever need shoulder surgery in the future, I will come find you where you practice.

i’ve got have been given no stats, yet 3 households i understand use the internal maximum non secular faculties. all of them report smaller type sizes & the ratio of scholars to amenities replaced right into a lot extra helpful than that they had recent in public college. Now, between the three, is having themes with English & the toddlers because it isn’t the commonplace language of their college, yet curiously the faculty is adapting to remedy this concern.

too much to read right now dude.. honestly, go do something that will give you a net gain instead. Why go to school for something that you think is technical, but forces you to work in a goshdamned lab your whole life? Why don’t you get an MBA instead and go work for some big finance company in Manhattan? Would you rather have upward mobility or a diploma that says that you excel in mixing chemicals?